Buoyant Float With Air Pocket Seal For High Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hollow floats in gaseous fluid handling systems face issues with condensate infiltration, which affects buoyancy and operation, especially under high gas pressures, as existing solutions either crush under pressure or allow condensate entry through pressure-balancing features.
Innovation Solution
A buoyant float design featuring a tubular body with a cover and flexible seals to create an air pocket and prevent liquid entry, allowing pressure equalization while maintaining buoyancy and structural integrity under high pressures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a hollow float is used to maintain buoyancy, then the float can operate at lower gas pressures, but the float may be crushed by high gas pressures if pressure is not equalized
Solution Approach 1:
The float is divided into separate components (body and cover) that can move relative to each other, allowing pressure equalization through the interface between segments while maintaining overall structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible membrane or diaphragm is used at the float interface to allow pressure equalization while preventing liquid penetration, enabling the hollow float to withstand high pressures without crushing
2Strength
If pressure-balancing features are added to allow gas pressure equalization, then the float can withstand high pressures, but condensate can enter through the same opening and affect buoyancy
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible membrane or diaphragm acts as an intermediary element that selectively permits gas pressure equalization while blocking condensate liquid, resolving the contradiction between pressure resistance and preventing harmful liquid infiltration
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the float interface have different properties - the flexible membrane allows pressure transmission while its material properties prevent liquid penetration, creating localized functional zones
3Stress or pressure
If openings are provided near the top of the float for pressure balance, then high pressure gas can be withstood, but liquid can enter through the opening and increase float weight
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible membrane positioned at the float interface serves as a mediator that allows gas pressure to equalize while preventing liquid entry, thus maintaining float weight and pressure tolerance simultaneously
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively prevents condensate from entering the hollow interior, maintaining buoyancy and operational efficiency even at high gas pressures, such as up to 170 psi, by isolating the interface from liquid and using flexible seals to balance pressure.
Implementation Method 1
a buoyant hollow float having features for preventing liquid from entering an interior of the float
Implementation Method 2
the gas pressure may crush the float if the pressure of gas in the float is not equalized to the pressure outside the float
Data Source
AI summary
A buoyant float including a body having an interior defined in part by a side wall and a bottom extending inward from the side wall. The side wall has an upper edge defining an open top of the body. The float includes a cover sized and shaped for covering the top of the body. The cover attaches to the body to maintain the cover in position relative to the body to cover the open top. The cover has a tubular skirt extending downward and around the upper edge of the body side wall when the cover is in position covering the top of the body. An air pocket is created at an interface between the cover and the body when the float is positioned in liquid to isolate the interface from the liquid and prevent liquid from entering the hollow interior of the body through the interface.